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Industry & Manufacturing

The Museum's collections document centuries of remarkable changes in products, manufacturing processes, and the role of industry in American life. In the bargain, they preserve artifacts of great ingenuity, intricacy, and sometimes beauty.

The carding and spinning machinery built by Samuel Slater about 1790 helped establish the New England textile industry. Nylon-manufacturing machinery in the collections helped remake the same industry more than a century later. Machine tools from the 1850s are joined by a machine that produces computer chips. Thousands of patent models document the creativity of American innovators over more than 200 years.

The collections reach far beyond tools and machines. Some 460 episodes of the television series Industry on Parade celebrate American industry in the 1950s. Numerous photographic collections are a reminder of the scale and even the glamour of American industry.

This canvas miner’s cap was manufactured by Thomas Lloyd & Sons of Houtzdale, Pennsylvania. The cap has a leather brim with a leather and metal lamp bracket. The bracket likely held either a carbide lamp or an oil-wick cap lamp. Before head protection became mandatory in industrial workplaces, miner’s caps served as a way to mount their lamps.

This canvas miner’s cap was manufactured by Thomas Lloyd & Sons of Houtzdale, Pennsylvania. The cap has a leather brim with a leather and metal lamp bracket. The bracket likely held either a carbide lamp or an oil-wick cap lamp. Before head protection became mandatory in industrial workplaces, miner’s caps served as a way to mount their lamps.

This lamp was made by A.l. Hansen Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois in the late 1920’s. Augie L. Hansen was a prolific lamp designer for the Justrite Manufacturing Company from 1911-1919 before leaving to start his own manufacturing company in Chicago in 1920.

This oil-wick cap lamp was made by an unknown maker during the second half of the 19th century. The font contained a mix of fat and oil for fuel, and a wick was inserted into the spout. The resulting flame was much brighter and more efficient than the candles it replaced. The hook enabled the lamp to be worn on a cap, or hooked onto any other suitable location. This lamp has the inscription “J.C. MARSHALL'S PATENT JAN 4th 1876” on one side, and "CHARLES WAGNER" on the other.

This oil-wick cap lamp was made by an unknown maker during the second half of the 19th century. The oil-wick cap lamp was first invented in Scotland in 1850 and in use until the 1920’s. The font contained a mix of fat and oil for fuel, and a wick was inserted into the spout. The resulting flame was much brighter and more efficient than the candles it replaced. The hook enabled the lamp to be worn on a cap, or hooked onto any other suitable location.

This is a safety lamp manufactured by the Friemann and Wolf Company of Zwickau, Germany in the late 19th century. The Friemann and Wolf Company was a prominent lamp manufacturer that exported their lamps to the U.S. until World War I, when buying German products became unpopular. This lamp is one of the most popular Wolf designs, employing a glass enclosure, wire gauze on the top-interior, and a metal bonnet exterior to protect the flame. The lamp is inscribed with the number “250” in two places.

This oil-wick cap lamp was made by an unknown maker during the second half of the 19th century. The oil-wick cap lamp was first invented in Scotland in 1850 and in use until the 1920’s. The font contained a mix of fat and oil for fuel, and a wick was inserted into the spout. The resulting flame was much brighter and more efficient than the candles it replaced. The hook enabled the lamp to be worn on a cap, or hooked onto any other suitable location.

This oil-wick cap lamp was made by an unknown maker during the second half of the 19th century. It has as double spout, indicating that it burned "Sunshine" fuel, a mixture of paraffin wax and 3% mineral oil produced by the Standard Oil Company. Called a "Sunshine Lamp," the outer spout served to insulate the wick in the inner spout, thereby conducting enough heat to melt the wax in the Sunshine fuel. This kind of lamp hooked onto a miner’s cap, and produced an open flame.

This is an Auto-Lite Carbide Mining Lamp, produced by the Universal Lamp Company of Chicago, Illinois. Auto-Lite carbide mining lamps were produced from 1913 through 1960, most following the design Jacob Sherman patented in 1924. This lamp’s design places its manufacture date in the early 1920’s. This particular lamp is noteable for the octagonal base and large On/Off lettering on the top.

This Skullgard helmet was manufactured by the Mine Safety Appliances Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 20th century. The Skullgard brand helmet was developed by MSA in 1930. The hat is made of Bakelite plastic, with a metal lamp bracket protruding from the front that would have held an electric cap lamp.